Afternoon all. Liverpool supporter here.
There seems to be a bit of bad feeling between some of the Liverpool supporters who've registered here and some of the Red Sox faithful. That's not why the majority of us are here, believe me. We're very interested in your owners and your feelings towards their commitment to your club as we've been in dire straits in recent years thanks to the leveraged buy-out of our club by Hicks & Gillett. It's been a grim, grim few years and hopefully we're seeing that back of that now.
There's some wild presumptions being made in this thread; not leat that we'll need a billion pounds to sort the club out or that it's not a profitable business. My understanding is that your owner, with a cobnsortium of 17 independent backers, are pouring something in the region of ?300m into Liverpool FC which will pay off the crippling debt those two have racked up. That immediately frees ?40m a year in interest payments which will, we hope, be made available for player transfers. There are also plans for a new / redeveloped stadium which will be financed over many years and will likely include a naming rights deal, generating significant income in addition to the additional ticket sales. Then there's the merchandising side of the business which will now be able to flourish as there have been a LOT of supporters refusing to buy merchandise while H&G were in charge at the club.
As for Alan Sugar claiming there's no money in Football. The thing you have to bear in mind about Alan Sugar is that he loves nothing better than the sound of his own voice and his ego. Liverpool FC are the most successful football club in the UK and are a highly profitable concern as things stand, even without the added investment headed our way. You guys don't need to worry about the stability of your club in connection with this buy-out. It sounds to me like you have very good owners and I'd like to think we can strike a firm alliance. We have millions of supporters all over the world and this can only serve to help promote your good name as well as our own.
As for the burning of the American flag, in my opinion that was a mistake but it will not have been done to piss off Americans in general or to disrespect anyone. It'll have been a publicity stunt to draw media attention to the plight of the club suffering under the two Americans who have all but destroyed us. Nevertheless it's not anything I'd have involved myself in and whilst I'm unable to apologise on behalf of those who carried out the act, you have my sympathy.
One more thing - we have differing cultures and differing tastes in entertainment and sports. I think we should respect that especially whilst visiting these boards and I apologise for the utter mongs who are slating your sport.
